I won’t go into how each version works and the small differences between them. I also won’t bore you with my thinking around why Facebook is doing this. There’s plenty of articles online about these topics. There are much more smarter people than me that can give you their expert opinion.

One of the most interesting technology ‘innovations’ that has not yet succeeded (despite several attempts by reputable companies) is the convergence of the smartphone and desktop.

This week, Samsung revealed its latest flagship smartphone threatening to dethrone Apple’s iPhone 7. With fantastic ID, new screen technology and its Bixby AI assistant (the most interesting feature imo), they are in a good position to do this. On paper it looks great but I’m looking forward to seeing the product reviews before making a decision — one big unknown is how its conservative 3000mAh battery will translate to battery life (especially with the power-hungry processor, modem, and screen).

Back to the mobile-desktop convergence … many vendors have tried to do it over the last few years:

Motorola ATRIX’s Webtop feature (2011)

Ubuntu’s mobile-to-desktop feature (Meizu Pro 5 was the first smartphone to integrate this in 2016)

The editor didn’t proclaim this was a real account (just reported on the fact that it looked official) and reached out to the local Amazon PR representatives across its other local (and confirmed) business verticals (Video, Kindle, Audible, AWS) to confirm. Unfortunately the PRs didn’t get back to him.

When I first saw this at 10:30pm tonight, I actually thought it was the real deal! But upon investigating, I concluded that it was a fake account for several reasons (but secretly hoped I was wrong).

But first, why the account seemed credible (and fooled a lot of Australian enthusiastic online shoppers):

Five ways brands can create content using Snap’s Spectacles 😎

Commissioned by Australian media and marketing website, AdNews, a slightly edited version of my piece can be found on their website here.

Before you read this, I’m going to assume you’re already using Snapchat in both personal and professional capacities. Your score is probably in the five digits and you know what kind of Snaps resonate with your followers so they always view your story.

You would also know a bit about Spectacles; you’ve read about the epic journey to acquire a pair that would even rival Frodo’s journey; you’ve probably even watched unboxing videos and read reviews of the sunglasses.

It probably goes without saying that Spectacles has achieved the highest level of consumer hype. This has been achieved through a combination of an appealing price tag, hard-to-acquire allure, the popularity of Snapchat, and removing the #glasshole stigma.

Snap Inc has shown the world that its 26-year-old founder and CEO fully understands how Millennials think and act. More importantly, the company has demonstrated that its first hardware product is a hit and brings in another revenue stream. This comes at a crucial time as Snap Inc is set to raise as much as $4 billion in its impending IPO later this year.

I’ve been playing with a pair of Spectacles over the last two weeks and it’s been an enlightening experience learning how to create interesting Snaps for my friends and family. Here are five tips that I think will make you better utilise Spectacles:

1. Think about what’s in the frame

The unique advantage of Spectacles is that it allows the viewer to experience a different point of view. If you’re simply looking around your surroundings then it’s really not that interesting or different than how you would capture normally. Try to also demonstrate that you’re not recording from your smartphone — point at things, look at the ground, show your hands, etc. This additional POV will give some good life to your Snapchat story!

If you’re recording someone doing an activity, why not also let them record from their POV? This could be a skater nailing a halfpipe, the bartender making some delicious cocktails, the model that’s getting their makeup touched done before the show, or even a puppy that’s being playful.

I gave tips on how to make sharable content to Sydney Morning Herald

The video depicted a fly-in-fly-out father witnessing the birth of his son thanks to the use of the world’s first live streaming virtual reality birth using the technology.

It was an internet sensation, with 10,000,000-plus views without any paid support, resulting in the campaign being shortlisted as a finalist in the PR category of Cannes Lion 2015 and a winner in other industry awards.

“Feelings of happiness, surprise, anger or sadness and expressing video messages in a really nice simple way can be explosive on social media. Content that’s educational that can help others are also really shareable,” the account director of PR firm M&C Partners says.